


Awkward Lunch

by phoenixgal



Series: Scenes from a Life [12]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Awkward Conversations, Bisexual Male Character, Coming Out, Father-Son Relationship, Multi, Polyamory, Sex Education
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-03
Updated: 2017-10-03
Packaged: 2019-01-08 17:39:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,072
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12258987
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/phoenixgal/pseuds/phoenixgal
Summary: Harry visits Albus at Hogwarts after hearing that he and Scorpius are dating.





	Awkward Lunch

**Author's Note:**

> This is really a follow up to my story in this arc called "Not a Phase" where Harry first hears about Albus and Scorpius and tries to process it with Ginny and through the lens of their own queer lives. I tried to write it several times and it just didn't seem right, but then I suddenly sat down and wrote this and I'm honestly really tickled by it. I made myself laugh at them all. Awkwardness abounds. And parenting is not for wimps, y'all.

Harry told himself that he was going straight up to the castle to collect Albus, but instead he found himself wandering toward the greenhouse.

He could see Neville inside, messing around with some plant or other. As he poked his head through the doorway, Neville dropped some sort of glass measurement device and it shattered on the hard floor.

“Fermats,” he swore. “Sorry, Harry. Just...” He waved his wand at the glass shards on the floor and they all reassembled. Neville picked it up and evaluated it. “Well, this is useless now. Sorry. What are you doing here?”

“Came to take Al to lunch in the village.”

Neville raised an eyebrow and Harry shrugged.

“Ah. Yeah. I almost said something last month, but I figured it wasn't my business to tell.”

Harry thought back to their weekend away together the previous month. “That long.”

“To people with the right eyes,” Neville said. “Er… maybe not to his father though.”

Harry sighed. He had suspected that Albus might be queer. He just hadn't said anything. When it had become clear that Albus had let the entire school know but hadn't bothered to tell his parents, that had been a bit of a parenting blow.

“You're not upset though?” Neville asked.

“Only at myself.”

“Ah,” Neville said. “You know you couldn't...”

“No, it's fine. I obviously have to remedy some things though.”

“Oh,” Neville said. “Good luck.”

“Thanks.”

Neville glanced around, then flicked his wand at the door, which Harry heard lock. He took two steps toward Harry and wrapped an arm around him then brought him in for a kiss. Harry felt a tiny bit of the tension he was holding leave him and he returned the kiss, a warm reminder that Neville had his back.

“We should find time for another weekend,” Neville said, his face just a breath away from Harry's.

“You're assuming I'm going to survive the next hour.”

Neville chuckled. “Granted. We should plan another weekend if you survive the next hour. I survived coming out to my Gran. You can survive coming out to your kid.”

“You were young and resilient when you did that. I'm old and decrepit.”

“Not hardly.” Neville squeezed his hip.

“Says the man trying to get in my pants.”

“Says the man who wants me to.”

Harry laughed. “All right. I'd love to stay here and flirt...”

“But you have lunch plans,” Neville said, with a small grin.

Harry shook his head, wishing he really could stay. It would be easy. Nothing about lunch was going to be easy.

By the time he got up to the castle, he found Albus in the Great Hall, students just starting to filter in for their own lunches. The room never changed, Harry thought. The ceiling, the long house tables, the head table for staff, the ornate woodwork that lined the walls. He couldn't help but feel a sense of home every time he visited.

Harry forced himself to smile at his son, who was seated backwards at one of the Slytherin tables, his green lined robes hanging off him slightly, showing his muggle attire underneath. Albus scowled in return.

“Albus,” Harry said. “Ready?”

“I'm not going,” Albus said.

“What?”

“Al,” a voice next to Albus said, sounding slightly exasperated. Harry gave Scorpius Malfoy a small smile. He had gotten to know Albus's best mate over the last few years and knew he was mostly a good influence on Al, even if he had initially thought the worst of the boy.

“I'm not going without Scorpius,” Albus amended. Without moving his eyes from his father's gaze, he reached over and grabbed Scorpius's hand.

For a moment Harry hesitated. This was going to be awkward enough. But he also knew how unmovingly stubborn his younger son could be. And he suspected anything he said would just be shared with Scorpius immediately. Internally, he started giving himself a pep talk, trying to channel some of the things he had learned over the last few years about openness and honesty.

“That's fine, Albus,” he said.

Albus looked like he had wanted a fight, but after that, both the boys came along, walking toward Hogsmeade with him. They held hands. Scorpius was taller than Albus, skinny and lithe. He really was the spitting image of his father, Harry thought, but tried to put it out of his mind.

Instead, he forced himself to make conversation. It worked best on Scorpius, who was apparently happy to talk about his love of potions, a ghost who had recently been let out of some sort of wardrobe and was now haunting the library, and the recent death of the giant squid. They found common ground in their enjoyment of history and Scorpius was soon happily talking about wizarding history and archives.

“If you haven't read Yardledge's history of nineteenth century wizarding innovations, it's worth it,” Harry suggested. “I met him last year as well. He's an interesting bloke. Really one of the only authors worth reading.”

“Ooh,” Scorpius said and Harry inwardly cheered that he had impressed Scorpius Malfoy. What was the world coming to?

“You're such a dork,” Albus said.

“Which one of us?” Harry asked.

Albus scowled.

The village was mostly quiet. Melting snow made the roads slightly mushy, but the sun was out and everyone was cheerful enough. Harry had chosen a quieter tavern for lunch. It was a place where the meals were chosen for the guests through divination. Their waitress approached the table with a crystal ball, sized them each up without speaking, then nodded and walked away.

“I wonder what I wanted,” Scorpius said, fascinated.

“Last time I was here it was delicious,” Harry said.

Albus continued to scowl.

“So, er, I understand you boys are romantically involved now,” Harry said, forcing himself to dive into it at last. If what he had heard about how they had snogged in front of the whole school at a recent Valentine's ball hadn't been enough, the hand-holding and general affection he'd seen on just the walk to Hogsmeade had certainly confirmed things.

“So?” Albus said, his voice challenging.

Scorpius elbowed him. “Yes, sir.” A clear smile lit up his face. This is why he looks so different from his father, Harry thought, looking at the boy's light blond hair and pale coloring. He looks happy and unburdened.

“So, I wanted to make it clear that, well, your mother and I are really glad that you're able to be so open about your choices together. She wants to come up and see you soon. Maybe next weekend.”

“Oh,” Albus said.

“You didn't need to be scared to tell me. Not at all. And,” Harry said, bracing himself, “I thought since you're now almost grown up, that I'd take this opportunity to talk about relationships.” He had rehearsed this in his head, but it was still so hard to make the words form. “When I was your age, I didn't really know much about anything. No one really explained sex or love to me properly. I didn't really understand that relationships can be complex and that there are lots of sorts of relationships, not just men and women, but, well, all sorts of different, you know, takes on things.” He was rambling. He knew he was, but somehow he was just saying more nonsense.

“You may not always know what you want when you're younger. Some of us figure these things out later, you know.” Harry wasn't even totally sure what he was saying. “Really, the most important thing is consent. You have to check that your, that the person you're with wants what you want. And that's in the moment, but also overall. But as long as everyone agrees to things, it can be healthy and good to have different sorts of relationships. You can try things to figure out what you want. I, er, took a long time to figure out what I wanted. You're way ahead of me at sixteen. But now that I'm older, well. You know it's important to not be judgmental about others' relationships, even if they're unorthodox, like, well, your mother and I, I mean, yes.” Harry couldn't seem to stop, but he also couldn't seem to get to the point.

“Dad, stop it,” Albus interrupted. “What are you trying to say?”

Scorpius also looked confused.

“I… oh… was I not being clear?”

“Uh, no,” Albus declared.

“Just that it's perfectly normal. And that in the wizarding world sometimes people aren't all that accepting, but it's been changing a lot. I've seen it changing. When I was your age, I couldn't really do what you did like that. It's a relief, really.”

Albus cocked his head. “You couldn't what?”

“Just to er… hold hands like that,” Harry said. “That wasn't really done. So, of course, I never...” Harry stumbled. He was getting ahead of himself. “I just mean, we're all the product of our time in a way. I'm probably more so than most. I mean… Well… I would never want you to think your mother and I married because we had to. It's really the case that being different with your relationships is fine.”

“Merlin's Balls, Dad, what the fuck are you trying to say?” Albus asked.

Harry automatically said, “Language, Albus.”

“Language yourself,” he replied. “Use some that makes sense. Are you saying… you're not saying you're attracted to men?”

Harry sighed, both relieved that somehow Albus had caught the gist of things and dismayed that he'd done such a shite job with it all. “Sexuality really is a spectrum of… well, interest,” he finished lamely.

Scorpius's blond eyebrows shot up practically to his hairline, his gray eyes growing almost impossibly wide. Albus's mouth opened, as if to say something, but then nothing came out, so he just sat there gaping.

“I… well… Oh,” Harry said, “Look, the food is here.”

The silent waitress arrived at their table bearing three plates. In front of Harry she placed a plate of steaming meat and vegetables. In front of Albus there was some sort of cheesy pie concoction. Scorpius received something that involved layers of pastry shell atop of a tiny casserole dish. Unfortunately neither of the boys seemed interested in their food anymore.

“Dad… are you just having me on?” Albus asked.

“No, of course not,” Harry said. “I… Well, Scorpius, I hope you can exercise some discretion. Both of you, really.”

“So,” Albus said, still looking like he was getting over a mild confunding charm, “you… You're really bent?”

“If you want to put it like that, yes,” Harry said. “And I feel I… er… I owe you a bit of an apology. I never once wanted you to feel that you needed to hide this from me. Hiding is just… well, the media are… people have always wanted to know… It just hasn't always been easy for me. It's no excuse, but, well, when I look back, there was never some right time to tell you kids… Yes.” Harry felt like kicking himself. He hadn't gone this dithering in ages. He took a bite of his meal to distract himself.

“So, you're really bent,” Albus said. “Like, really and truly? Have you ever… Wait, no, don't answer that.” He looked slightly horrified. “But what about Mum?”

“I love your mother very much. She would like to talk to you about herself. But we agreed. I mean, we have an understanding. Not all relationships have to be, well, a set of just two people, after all. Society has, er… A more open approach can also be healthy. This is one of the things we bonded about when we were first, I mean. Your mother also… Well, you understand.”

“Salazar's Arse,” Scorpius said. Then he clamped his hand over his mouth.

Albus looked mildly traumatized. “You don't,” he said.

“I… er… I don't want to upset you, Albus.”

“Merlin and Morgan. Fuck.”

“Nothing is… I'm the same person. Just like you. I mean, not… I don't...” Harry trailed off, annoyed with himself. He had stopped doing this years ago. Albus just always seemed to bring out the worst in him sometimes.

“Oh, this is delicious,” Scorpius said suddenly, his fork in his pastry dish.

“How can you eat at a time like this!” Albus exclaimed to his boyfriend. “My dad is… my dad's gone mental!”

“Albus,” Harry said.

“Because it's really good. Try yours, Al.”

“But...” Albus sputtered.

“Ooh, do you think they'll know I want dessert?” Scorpius asked.

“You've barely eaten your meal,” Harry said.

“He always wants dessert,” Albus said, rolling his eyes. “That doesn't take divination.”

“It's a foregone conclusion,” Scorpius agreed.

“I'm sure you can have dessert as well,” Harry said. 

“Are we really just going to continue our meal after that?” Albus asked. “I… so many questions.”

Harry took another bite of his own steaming plate. It reminded him of the first meals he'd ever eaten at Hogwarts, the first time he could remember feeling full his whole life. “All right,” he said, trying to invite questions.

But Albus seemed to have gotten nearly as tongue tied as Harry. He sputtered out a few more variations of, “You're taking the piss,” before finally starting his own food, looking completely confunded.

“Sometimes, people, er, well, I've always liked my privacy,” Harry said, trying to brace himself for the other thing he'd promised Ginny he would do. “I know that, well, a couple of years ago, I talked to you and James about sex and it occurred to me that maybe, well… Things are different now, aren't they? So it would only make sense to go over some of those things again. I know I wish someone had explained some of the, well, the options of what sex could look like and what was normal to me. The first time I ever… well, it was a difficult time for me then, but still, a little more education might have… Yes.”

Albus paused mid-chew. “Salazar's toes, you're not about to explain gay sex. You're not.”

“I...”

“Really?” Scorpius asked, putting down his fork and looking intrigued.

“I just think it would be a good idea to… Even if you've… and it's none of my business what you've done. You're nearly grown ups. I just meant education, in the most general sense, is always a good thing, after all. And also, well, to be honest, I promised your mother.”

“Oh, Merlin help me,” Albus said, turning pink. “Just get it over with.”

“That's… yes… I can… I guess the best place to start is that there are lots of ways to, er, enjoy yourself with your partner...” Harry found he couldn't look at the boys as he, as quickly as possible, ran through his own mental list of ways two men did and could have sex, and how it really wasn't necessary to try them all, but that they were things that existed, that some people liked and how the best thing was to be honest and open. He didn't miss the irony of those statements, but he plowed on, talking about lubrication and muggle bars and protection and how muggle condoms worked and consent. 

It was all coming out in a jumble of information. When he managed to look at them, Albus looked mortified and Scorpius looked wide-eyed and interested, but bright red with embarrassment.

“Do you, er, have any questions?” Harry asked, trying to look bright and just normal as he scraped up more of his meal, getting the drippings on some of the vegetables.

“I wondered...” Scorpius started, but Albus hit his arm. “Er… nothing. No questions.”

The waitress came back and picked up their plates.

“I was still eating that,” Albus objected.

“No you weren't, dear. In the next ten minutes you wouldn't have had another bite.”

Albus narrowed his eyes at her, but then she produced a large chocolate gateau for him to share with Scorpius and a small piece of treacle tart for Harry, and Albus's annoyed expression faded slightly.

As they walked back up the road to the castle, Scorpius was now the one trying to break the ice by talking about history and Hogwarts classes and his own plans to take extra NEWT classes the follow year. Harry tried to listen, but mostly he watched Albus, who was quiet, though not in his usually defensive, angry way.

When they reached the Hogwarts grounds, Albus whispered something to Scorpius, who nodded.

“Thank you, Mr. Potter. That was a really, um, interesting lunch,” Scorpius said, shaking Harry's hand formally. Harry felt like he wanted to laugh. Scorpius was Albus's opposite in almost every way. He wouldn't have traded his own son for anything, but suddenly he had a flash of the future and was glad that Scorpius might be there to forever interject manners and sweets into Albus's life.

“You're welcome, Scorpius,” Harry said. “I hope you can, er...”

“Discretion is my middle name!”

“Hyperion,” Albus grumbled.

“It's just a saying,” Scorpius said. He leaned over and gave Albus a quick peck on the lips before walking up the path past the gates and along the lake.

“I'm sorry to have been so...” Harry trailed off, unsure exactly what he was apologizing for. He was sorry to have been so what, exactly? So closeted, so rambling, so damaged.

“Yeah,” Albus said. “I'm…” He scrunched up his face. “I wish you could have snogged whoever you wanted back at school.”

Harry felt his whole body warm despite the chilly air. “Thanks, Al,” he whispered.

Albus's eyebrows knit together in a vague, confused look that Harry was pretty sure was a mirror to his younger self. “You said before that I didn't have to be scared to tell you I'm gay.”

“You didn't. It's my fault if… Yeah.”

“You didn't have to be scared to tell me you're bisexual or whatever,” Albus said. “I mean, obviously.”

“Thanks, Albus,” Harry repeated.

“But, er, I'd love it if we never had to talk about sex ever again,” Albus added.

“Yes, all right. Understood, son,” Harry said, feeling slightly lightheaded. “I'd prefer that too, I think.” An unplanned laugh escaped his lips.

“All right, Dad,” Albus said. “I'll see you at Easter hols.”

“I love you, Albus,” Harry said, needing so much to say it.

“Yeah. Uh, me too,” Albus said, turning to hurry up the path and catch his boyfriend.


End file.
